(CSRwire) Geneva, Switzerland – The World Economic Forum is aiming to make a contribution to the field of corporate governance with a new initiative: The Global Corporate Governance Dialogue. The purpose of this dialogue is to contribute to the improvement of quality and coordination of corporate governance frameworks around the world, exploring particularly the international dimensions of the issue and using a workshop-based approach.

“The unique convening power of the World Economic Forum will ensure that the quality and geographical diversity of people contributing to the dialogue are unsurpassed,” says Rick Samans, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum. “We will be asking CEOs and board members with varied, extensive experience to shape and take an active role in the initiative.”

The new workshop-based dialogue will focus on the cross-country and comparative dimensions of corporate governance. The World Economic Forum has appointed an Advisory Board whose mandate is to contribute advice on the content and structure of these highly structured workshops.

The Advisory Board* will comprise both business and non-business voices; it will advise the World Economic Forum on corporate governance issues across the full range of our activities, including regional summits, the Annual Meeting and the Global Corporate Governance Dialogue.

The initiative already piloted a number of workshops earlier this year at the World Economic Forum’s Russia Meeting. The workshops centred on the role of the board, shareholder activism and a joint session with the OECD and regulators that examined critical questions for the corporate governance agenda in Russia.

“Business communities around the world are hungry for guidance and technical know-how in corporate governance and none more so than in Russia,” adds Samans. “The workshops there demonstrated to participants what needed to be done to bring the country up to international standards.”

The launch of the initiative also coincides with the release of a book produced by the World Economic Forum on Corporate Governance. The study, entitled Corporate Governance and Capital Flows in a Global Economy (Oxford University Press), consists of contributions by renowned academics and business leaders that call for considerable change in institutions and a rethinking of what constitutes good corporate governance. The book is released jointly by INSEAD, the Reginald H. Jones Center of the Wharton School and the World Economic Forum. Advisory Board members of the Corporate Governance Initiative are among those who have contributed articles to the book. The formal launch of the book will take place in New York on 24 November.

Rich in facts and ideas, Corporate Governance and Capital Flows in a Global Economy is a must read for anyone interested in financial crises, international risk management and global competitiveness.

Peter Cornelius, former Chief Economist at the World Economic Forum and now Chief Economist at Shell said: "In an increasingly integrated world economy, competition for foreign savings has intensified. With international investors willing to pay considerable premia for well governed firms, good corporate governance can be an important competitive advantage and driver of global capital flows”. He added “What is often overlooked, however, is that foreign investors themselves may help improve corporate governance in emerging markets whose corporate governance standards are still emerging."

Co-Editor Bruce Kogut says "Corporate governance is the principal medicine by which investors hope to address the ills of the many recent scandals in corporate and financial practices. Good governance though is far more than creating an active board or writing a code of ethics. It is an integral part of the social responsibility of corporations and their employees."

Notes for Editors:

For interviews with Rick Samans or with members of the Advisory Board, please contact Mark Adams by e-mail (mark.adams@weforum.org)


*Members of the Advisory Board

a.. William Browder, Chief Executive Officer, Hermitage Capital Management, Russian Federation
b.. Peter Clapman, Senior Vice-President and Chief Counsel, Corporate Global Governance, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), USA
c.. John Coffee, Professor of Law, Columbia University, USA
d.. Mats Isaksson, Head, Corporate Affairs Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris
e.. Jang Hasung, Professor, College of Business Administration, Korea University, Republic of Korea
f.. Florencio López-de-Silanes, Professor of Finance and Economics and Director, International Institute for CorporateGovernance, Yale School of Management, USA
g.. Paul Rogers, Director, Head Organization Practice, Bain & Company, United Kingdom
h.. Jeff Willemain, Global Managing Partner, Regulatory and Risk, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, USA
i.. Jaap Winter, Chairman, High Level Group of Company Law Experts, European Union, Brussels

For more information about the initiative, please visit
http://www.weforum.org/corporategovernance

For more details about the book, please visit the publisher's website at
http://www.oup-usa.org/isbn/0195167058.html


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The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world. The Forum provides a collaborative framework for the world's leaders to address global issues, engaging particularly its corporate members in global citizenship. Incorporated as a foundation, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

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